A Good Deed
by anubislover
Summary: Loki's come to get his revenge on Tony, but Iron Man is less than impressed. Will a request from Pepper Potts turn that around? Will the God of Mischief oblige? Is it even possible to say no to Pepper? Just a funny little one-shot, please read and review!


This came from the first time I saw _The Avengers_ trailer where Tony and Loki are in his apartment, staring each other down. I came up with it a while ago, but sadly I'm only now writing it down. Sigh.

Disclaimer: I don't even own 12 percent of _The Avengers_. Disney is too powerful.

A Good Deed

"So, I'm guessing you're here for revenge, Reindeer Games?" Tony snarked, lounging in one of his favorite chairs.

Loki glared at him. It had taken a lot, but he had finally broken out of his prison and escaped to Midgard, intent on making the Avengers suffer for his defeat, one hero at a time. Naturally, Tony was his first target. "What gave it away?" he asked sarcastically.

Casually getting up, Tony attached his bracelets. "Well, for starters, there's that angry look on your face that only comes from a guy who is seriously pissed off. And since I recently kicked your butt, I'd say payback is the most logical reason, if a bit too obvious. I mean, you're kind of a let-down for the whole "God of Mischief" thing."

The former prince blinked. "What?"

"I mean, showing up at my tower demanding to fight me? Lame! Anyone can do that. Where are the nefarious schemes, the cunning plots? Hell, even toilet-papering my tower would be more original. But I guess I expected too much for Thor's baby brother," he said mock-disappointedly.

"You worthless mortal! I'll make you suffer the most wretched tortures—"

Pepper chose that moment to walk in. "Tony, you need to…" she trailed off, noticing he rather unusual visitor. "You didn't tell me we had a guest."

The two geniuses watched her, one with trepidation, one with vague interest. Tony nervously cleared his throat. "Um, Pep? Now might not be a good time to be up here. Last time Loki visited he kind of…well, this is the guy who destroyed our apartment."

The God of Mischief actually looked a little offended. "I believe your monster friend did his own fair share of the damage, thank you very much." Remembering the manners his royal upbringing and mother had installed in him, he gave Pepper a little bow. "Forgive my rudeness. I am Loki Laufeyson of Asgard."

The redhead gave a polite nod in return. "Pepper Potts. A pleasure to make your acquaintance. Sorry to barge in like this, but Tony has a meeting this afternoon and he has an unfortunate habit of "forgetting" to attend."

"I do not," Tony interjected. "And sorry, Pep, but it looks like I might not be able to attend after all. I've kind of got to defend New York from Loki again, so if you could deal with the meeting yourself that would be great." He gave her a smile that was a cross between charming and smug.

She scoffed. "Tony, you can't miss every meeting so you can go and play hero. Stark Industries is still your company!"

"Honey, what's more important: saving the world, or shareholder meetings?"

Naturally, Pepper was frustrated. He was right, but half the time he seemed to use saving the world as an excuse to skip meetings more than anything else. Whenever he had some sort of boring obligation he would jump out the window, claiming to have spotted a robbery three blocks away, leaving her to do all the work. It was getting to be too much, and she was sick of going to every meeting in his place, apologizing for Iron Man, and sitting through hours of snobby old men talking about money. She could see why Tony avoided them, but that didn't mean he could throw her to the wolves. Tony was just lucky she still loved him so much.

Seeing no other option, she turned to Loki. "Mr. Laufeyson," she started, using her most sincere and professional tone. "I know this is probably too much to ask, but could you possibly refrain from fighting Tony today? He has a very important meeting in a few hours, and I kind of need him to attend this one. I have a spa appointment that I've been looking forward to all month, and I don't want to have to cancel it again."

Loki was flabbergasted by her polite request. This woman was actually asking him to delay his revenge? Was she mad? And she wasn't even begging for his life, just calmly requesting that he come back tomorrow so the Man of Iron could attend some business function. He had to admit, he was a little intrigued. "What is the purpose of this meeting?"

Tony's jaw dropped, but Pepper calmly answered. "It's a mandatory meeting where all the major shareholders of the company get together and discuss our profits for the past year and try to figure out how we can improve our products."

"It sounds dreadfully boring."

"It is. And if Tony doesn't go, I'll have to attend in his place. _Again_," she grumbled, glaring at her boyfriend, who just rubbed his neck sheepishly.

Loki studied the redhead. She looked tired, as if she had been dealing with this sort of thing for a long time. Though hidden by modest make-up, he could see faint bags under her eyes, and while she walked tall and proud there was an obvious weight on her shoulders. The poor woman had probably been running around for the past month, fulfilling Stark's duties as well as her own without even taking a day off. He felt an odd sort of kinship with the woman. How many times had he been forced to attend a meeting or boring social function in Thor's place because the big lout had run off to train or go on an adventure? And how often did these obligations interfere with his own plans? He may enjoy thinking and talking more than fighting, but that didn't mean he enjoyed sitting in on some boring discussion while everyone disregarded him simply because he wasn't Thor.

He sauntered up to Pepper and gently took her hand. "My dear, you have my solemn oath that I will cause no injury to your beloved until tomorrow. In fact, I will even personally ensure that any local crime is brought to a minimum so that there is no other reason for him to miss his meeting. Your spa day is safe." His smile was actually sincere. "Believe me, I know how you feel."

He winked at her, and she giggled. Call it woman's intuition, but she had the feeling he really did know how she felt. "Thank you, Mr. Laufeyson."

"Oh, please, call me Loki." Her brilliant and grateful smile was definitely worth the inconvenience of being good for a day.

Tony shook himself out of his stupor. "Wait, wait, wait! What do you mean we're not going to fight? You came here for revenge, right?"

The smile on the God's face could rival the one he made when he cut Sif's hair. "Mr. Stark, sometimes, a good deed can be revenge in itself. Enjoy your meeting."

He turned back to Pepper. Oddly, payback was no longer that high on his list of priorities, though she'd certainly given him the best kind possible. It seemed that a happy Pepper Potts was a reward in itself. Tony was a lucky man. "My dear, should you ever require the assistance of the God of Mischief again, please, do not hesitate to ask. Especially if it involves forcing certain Men of Iron to attend their meetings." He gently kissed her knuckles. "Enjoy your spa day, Miss Potts."

With that, Loki disappeared, leaving a grateful Pepper and an annoyed Tony alone in the tower.

End

So like I said, I got this idea from seeing the trailer for the first time. I had this image of Pepper walking in during Loki and Tony's conversation and asking Loki to refrain from killing Tony today because he has a meeting, and Loki actually agreed because it sounded far worse than anything he could do. I know, it's silly, but I've always felt that if Loki ever met Pepper, they'd make a particularly dangerous team. And don't get me wrong, I totally ship Pepperony, but sometimes Tony needs to remember why one doesn't tick off their assistant/girlfriend. She is dangerous when angered. Besides that, it's easy for me to imagine Loki sympathizing with Pepper over her pretty much having to force Tony to do his job, as Thor seemed the sort to skip out on meetings and leave Loki to pick up the slack.

Please review and tell me what you think!


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